Hi there my little one is 16 weeks old today and i'm under lots of pressure to start weaning her from my OH and in laws, they keep telling me she's a big girl she needs to start weaning.

Yes she is a big girl, she weighed 14lbs 3ozs at her last weigh in and that was 3 weeks ago, she was 9lbs 10ozs when born and is breastfed.

She is showing signs that she is ready for weaning, like grabbing at everything and putting it in her mouth, she is getting hungrier much quicker and she no longer sleeps through the night, now wakes every 2-3 hours for milk.

We have tried giving her 1 bottle of formula milk a day as a top up but she doesn't always take it as she likes to feed from me, but I have noticed that lately I cannot keep up with her demand for milk, sometimes she just can't get anything outta me.

I do have some baby rice and hubby is adamant that she now needs this to satisfy her hunger, ideally I want to wait until I have seen the health visitor on tuesday to see what she advises, but with my milk seemily not meeting her demand, I don't know what to do!

I'm not sure what to advise, but dont do it because you feel pressured to do it.

Her weight doesn't mean she needs to be weaned - my baby was over 21lb before she ate solids and is fine!

Waking in the night is not a sign of needing to be weaned either - it sounds like you're going through the massive 4 month growth spurt, which will pass. You might want to ask in the BF section too, ladies there have surely had similar issues.

Do what you feel best!

I started my daughter on a tiny spoon of baby rice before her breakfast feed (she is formula fed) as i felt she was ready at 13 weeks as i could no longer fill her and everything was going in her mouth...9oz every 2 hours was a difficult time!

I have in the last couple of days started her on a tiny amount of tea before her tea bottle just to try and sustain her till after her bath! Bath time has turned into a screamin fit from it being a really enjoyable time!

dont be pressured, every baby is different! x

Dont feel like you have to do it hun! dont let people push you into it!
Maybe speak to your HV?xx

Hon this sounds exactly like the mammoth 4 month growth spurt. My LO had slept through for ages and suddenly was awake feeding every 3 hours again. It was tiring but it calmed down after a week or so.

Putting things into her mouth is a developmental phase, again it doesn't mean she needs solids. As long as she's satisfied by bfing more often, gaining weight, wet and dirty nappies etc then she's fine. Alot of people mistake the 4 month growth spurt with LO needing to be weaned but maybe stick it out for another couple of weeks and see if things calm down.

You will know what's right for your LO, please try not to be pressured into anything

Thanks for the replies ladies, I was thinking it was her 4 month growth spurt and I've mentioned this to my hubby and inlaws but they still want me to try her on baby rice.

She did take a bottle yesterday afternoon to top her up, she had 4ozs and that seemed to help loads, was nearly 2 hours before she wanted feeding again! At the mo i'm lucky if she can go an hour during the day, unless she is sleeping off course, she is napping quite a bit too, which again makes me think growth spurt, but i'm fighting a losing battle with hubby!

All i get is she's a big girl she needs more food, she is in 6-9 month clothes and is just over 16 weeks.

Maiya did sleep for 5 hours last night when put to bed and she hasn't done that for well over a week, but then she woke up at around 2.30am for a quick feed, then 3.30am for a proper feed, put her to bed again and she was awake within 30 mins for more! Ended up putting her in bed with me where she slept till about 10am but she was feeding on and off in her sleep, she has never seemed this hungry before, does this sound like growth spurt or just a hungry baby???

I would agree that it sounds like growth spurt...sleeping lots and suddenly being hungry all the time!

i dont think u should wean just because other people want u to...do what u feel is best for ur LO and not ur OH and in laws. Weaning before ur LO is really ready can b very bad 4 them so def don't let people bully u into it.

Things like babies watching u eat and putting things in their mouth r normal developmental phases which don't mean they r ready for weaning at all. tis a common misconception-
signs of being ready r:
being able to controll his/her head
being able to sit up unaided/with very minimal support
loss of the tounge thrust reflex (this an important one)
having the hand-eye co-ordination to get food into their own mouth

I would def say post in the BF section and ask how other BF mums managed with the 4 month growth spurt

HTH hun

My lo is small for his age, 11lb 7oz at 20weeks, suggested by my hv to start him on baby rice cos is weight is tailing off and he is below the 0.4th centile anyway!! He only takes a max of 5oz bottles every 3hrs in the mornings he has around 3oz first think, so thinking of giving him some rice today on his 4th bottle of the day, he has 5 bottles a day. Tried to encouage him to drink more formula but with no luck so hopefully he will like solids, which might help put his weight up as he is so active he just burns it off and he is on nurtiprem

I don't want to start a debate, so don't take this the wrong way. Here in the US, I don't think weaning is such a big deal. It is very common here to start babies on cereal around 4 months and maybe a few fruit solids. I actually started my LO on a small amount of cereal in his bottles at night time and one in the morning at 13 weeks. Not a whole lot, but enough to satify him. He likes it and it has cause him no harm in anyway. His Pediatrician is the one that actually told me to start him on cereal at 4 months old. He said a lot of people start their babies sooner, but he said he doesn't like it, but doesn't condone it. Again, I am not trying to start a debate, but what does it hurt to give babies under 6 months of age a little cereal?